Research Briefing

Obama Holding Closed Door Meeting With Unions On Taxing Health Benefits, Because He Owes Them

RNC CHAIRMAN MICHAEL STEELE: “Today, in a closed door meeting with labor union bosses at the White House, President Obama will break two campaign promises in one meeting.  By demanding, behind closed doors, that union bosses abandon the best interest of the workers they claim to represent and support his plan to tax health care benefits, Obama will break first his pledge to broadcast all health care negotiations on C-SPAN and second his pledge not to increase taxes on the middle class. The President knows that he owes union bosses a minute of his time for all of the money they spent electing him. But he need not worry about being rebuffed on taxing health care benefits because he also knows that these union bosses care more about reaping the benefits from his government-takeover, binge-spending agenda than protecting the interests of the workers and families they represent.”

TODAY, OBAMA WILL KILL TWO PROMISES WITH ONE MEETING

PROMISE #1: Candidate Obama Pledged All Health Care Negotiations Would Be Televised On C-SPAN. “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they’ll get a seat at the table … But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During Town Hall Meeting, Chester, VA, 8/21/08)

• But Today’s Meeting With Union Bosses Just Latest In Back Room Meetings That Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Admits Violates Obama’s Pledge. “Referring explicitly to one of Obama’s campaign pledges, a reporter asked Pelosi whether C-SPAN cameras would be allowed to film the House-Senate negotiations. ‘There are a number of things he was for on the campaign trail,’ she said, without addressing the question.” (Brian Beutler, “Oh SNAP! Pelosi On Obama: ‘There Were A Number Of Things He Was For On The Campaign Trail,’” Talking Points Memo, 1/5/10)

PROMISE #2: Candidate Obama Made “A Firm Pledge … No Family Making Less Than $250,000 A Year Will See Any Form Of Tax Increase. Not Your Income Tax, Not Your Payroll Tax, Not Your Capital Gains Taxes, Not Any Of Your Taxes.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks In Dover, NH, 9/12/08)

• But Despite Opposition From Unions, Obama Pushing House Dems To Accept Senate Dems’ Tax On Health Benefits. “Obama told top Democratic House members … that he favored a tax on insurance companies offering more expensive healthcare plans … Powerful labor unions at the core of the Democratic base are opposed to the Cadillac tax … Obama’s preference may put pressure on the House to adopt the Senate tax as part of a compromise between the two bodies.” (Peter Nicholas, “Obama Favors ‘Cadillac Tax’ For Healthcare,” The Los Angeles Times, 1/7/10)

• And Pelosi Believes Obama’s Pledge To Not Tax Middle Class Broken By His Support Of Taxing Health Benefits. “Senior House Democratic leadership aides say Pelosi was pointedly referring to Obama’s ‘08 pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class, which she interprets to include a tax on so-called Cadillac health care plans …” (Patrick O’Connor And Glenn Thrush, “Nancy Pelosi Takes Swipe At President Obama’s Campaign Promises,” Politico, 1/5/09)

WHY IS OBAMA MEETING WITH UNIONS JUST TO BREAK HIS WORD? BECAUSE HE OWES THEM.

AFL-CIO Ran Tough Ads Against Tax On Health Benefits. “We’re continuing our campaign for real health care reform with a new AFL-CIO TV ad that sends a clear message: ‘Pass Health Care. Don’t Tax Health Benefits.’ The ad … emphasizes that taxing benefits will lead companies to cut benefits and will shift cost burdens to families that can’t afford it. It urges Congress to pass health care reform all Americans can afford.” (Seth Michaels, “Fix Health Care Right—Don’t Tax Benefits,” AFL-CIO Blog, 12/7/09)

• And Communications Workers Of America President Larry Cohen Says Senate Dems’ Tax On Health Benefits Will Hurt Middle Class Families And “Is The Opposite Of Reform.” “This new data demonstrates irrefutably that the excise tax - which will result in reduced coverage and increased costs for our middle class families - is the opposite of reform.” (Ben Smith, “CWA Pushes Back On White House Excise Tax Claim,” Politico’s “Ben Smith” Blog, 12/17/09)

But Vice President Biden Said To Labor Unions: “[W]e Owe You.” (Michael O’Brien, “Biden To Labor Group: We Owe You,” The Hill, 5/12/09)

• SEIU President: “We Spent A Fortune To Elect Barack Obama — $60.7 Million To Be Exact — And We’re Proud Of It.” (Michael Mishak, “Unplugged: The SEIU Chief On The Labor Movement And The Card Check,” The Las Vegas Sun, 5/10/09)

• Over His Political Career, President Obama Has Received At Least $829,839 From Labor. (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/8/10)

• Several Unions Part Of “Health Care For America Now,” A Group Supporting Obama’s Plans For Government-Run Health Care. (“Who We Are,” Health Care For America NOW!, Accessed 1/8/10)

• SEIU Packed Town Hall Meetings With Supporters This Summer. “This summer, as high-decibel opponents have crowded into town hall meetings to denounce Mr. Obama’s reform effort, Mr. Rivera, working with other unions, has sent hundreds of labor activists to such meetings to counter opponents. ‘We’re running this campaign like this was a presidential campaign, and our candidate is health care reform.” (Steven Greenhouse, “Dennis Rivera Leads Labor Charge For Health Reform,” The New York Times, 8/26/09)

BUT UNIONS DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT OBAMA TAXING HEALTH BENEFITS BECAUSE THEY’LL GET THEIR MONEY’S WORTH ON THE REST OF OBAMA’S AGENDA

Obama’s Government-Run Health Care Experiment “Is A Trojan Horse For More Forced Unionization.” “In the heated debates on health-care reform, not enough attention is being paid to the huge financial windfalls ObamaCare will dole out to unions—or to the provisions in the various bills in Congress that will help bring about the forced unionization of the health-care industry … ObamaCare is a Trojan Horse for more forced unionization” (Mark Mix, National Right To Work Committee President, Op-Ed, “Read The Health Care Union Label,’ The Wall Street Journal, 9/10/09)

Obama Takeover Of Auto Industry Made UAW “Big Winner.” “The United Auto Workers union would appear to be the big winner in the Chrysler bankruptcy saga, having exercised its considerable political muscle to win a 55% stake in [Chrysler].” (Tom Krisher and Dave Carpenter, "UAW Wins Big Chrysler Stake But Can’t Run Company," The Associated Press, 5/2/09)

Obama Supports Employee Free Choice Act, Claims It Will “Level The Playing Field.” “That’s why I support EFCA -- to level the playing field so it’s easier for employees who want a union to form a union.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks At AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic, Cincinnati, OH, 9/7/09)

Unions Exploit Obama’s So-Called “Green Energy” Agenda To Increase Membership. “The confluence of lightning-rod issues highlights an alliance between unions and environmental activists to promote green jobs as a solution to both declining union membership and global warming.” (Lisa Lerer, “Labor, Greens Team Up,” Politico, 4/14/09)

Money From Obama’s Stimulus Must Comply With Rules Where Washington Bureaucrats And Union Bosses Set Wages. “‘This is huge,’ said Ross Eisenbray, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor think tank in Washington … Davis-Bacon relies on government-issued tables that tells employers in each of the 50 states, plus Washington, exactly what they must pay workers in four categories of federally funded construction … The standards also include benefits in its definition of ‘prevailing wages,’ giving local unions indirect influence over non-union pay.” (Jefferson Morley, “Labor Wins ‘Prevailing Wages’ In Stimulus,” The Washington Independent, 3/31/09)

Obama Killed Successful DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, At Union Behest. “Deep in the folds of the thousand-page 2010 spending bill, which wraps together six bills, is language that (thankfully) would continue funding for students currently in the program but close it down for new students… If Congress, no doubt egged on by its allies in the teachers unions, is so intent on killing this program, it should be upfront in accepting the responsibility.” (Editorial, “D.C. Vouchers On Life Support,” The Washington Post, 12/14/09)